Batter Up
by flightlessbird1992
Summary: Both Bella and Edward are struggling in different ways from their pasts but can baseball and a mutual love for the Red Sox bring them together?


**Hello all! This is my first story for fanfiction and I am scared as hell. But I'm taking a chance and seeing if this story gets any positive reviews or constructive criticism. It is first and foremost a love story with baseball as the background. Before anyone points out the mistakes I will most definitely make, no I am not from Boston. I just have a passionate love for the Boston Red Sox and have always thought Edward in a Red Sox uniform is the sexist thing ever. My story also deals with physical abuse. I don't plan on going into any graphic detail or anything, but as a warning if I continue to write this story it will play a major part in my story. This first chapter is just setting up a small background for my characters and I'm working on a second chapter as we speak. Well I hope you enjoy, and please review if you like it or you hate it - Lyn **

**Edward**-

Everybody has a reason why they are the way they are. Some have horrible parents or a rough upbringing. Others are poor, too rich, or just plain stupid. Some maybe just have had a bad relationship or two. I don't have an excuse or reason as to why I am the way I am sometimes. Or at least I don't believe so. I have had loving parents who have supported me in everything I have done in life. But sometimes, I'm just a jackass. Don't get me wrong, I have charm. Being from a pretty well to-do family I have had the privilege of learning manners and knowing what it takes to be a gentleman. People tend to like me, and I tend to hurt those people who like me. I can be too harsh or sarcastic to some and I definitely like to have fun. Maybe one of my problems is I have a hard time trusting people. But from the career I have chosen, it's hard not to. I play professional baseball for a living. And I'm good, damn good really. I play a game for a living that millions obsess and dream about doing their entire lives. I make millions of dollars that I don't know what to do with and have a very active social life with the ladies. I like them and they really like me. Unfortunately, I sometimes get into too much trouble when it comes to the parties and girls. I come off as having the life, but lately it's been feeling like a pretty empty life. The way I was living only got me so far. There's that feeling when you fall asleep at night, between awake and asleep, where you remember things or something important passes through your mind. I always go to bed at night wanting more from this life. But I supposedly have it all, what more could I want?

I'm a good baseball player. I helped lead my Florida State Seminoles to two NCAA Baseball Championships and was drafted in the first round to the Kansas City Royals. I was even named Rookie of the Year and went to the All-Star Game. I'm from Boston and the Red Sox have always had a special place in my heart of course, but for the longest time I turned my back on them. I wanted to leave the perfect life I lived back home in Beantown. I wanted to break the rules, and did I break them. During my time in Kansas City I partied too much and missed practice a few too many times. I was traded and landed with the Dodgers and the Tigers and even the Blue Jays for a couple of games until I wrecked a car in Toronto and got caught in a nasty affair with a woman who had a husband. But I am still one of the best shortstops in the league and I have the fielding highlights and batting average to show it. But I am a risk. Teams want consistency in a player, and it turns out that I finally want to want that too. So when Bobby Valentine called my phone, I picked up. I knew the Sox were taking a risk on me, but with the fiasco that was their epic meltdown of last season, I knew that I was just the story the fans and management wanted to bounce back from a season like that. So I came home. My parents were absolutely thrilled. I was the prodigal son returning.

My father Carlisle is an oncologist and specializes in pediatrics. It's a tough job and I know he lies awake at night wondering what he could do better. I wish I could be as a good as a person as my father. My mother Esme works in real estate and to say that she was excited that I was coming home is an understatement. I love my mother. She was the mother at all my little league games who kept the scorebook and once or twice got kicked out by the umpire for cussing him out when he called a strike on me. They have a spectacular marriage and are still in love to this day. The bond they have between them seems so strong it scares me but I guess it's just something I can't understand because I've never experienced it. I'm hoping coming back to Boston proves to be the right decision and I don't let my family down more than I have already.

**Bella**-

I need to get over it. I can't always be the sad girl, the girl that everyone takes pity on. I'm better than that. I used to be fun and carefree. I was fun to hang out with. But those times seem like a lifetime ago. I keep forgetting that I'm only twenty-six. I feel much older. But I feel so insecure and self-conscious lately. My shrink says that's what to be expected and I'll heal in time. My thriving business had given me confidence that I never imagined was possible, until James came along, and turned my world upside down. It's funny how our brain tricks us into believing in people when we should never in the first place. You put so much into another person, you don't want to believe that it's all a waste. I think that's why we stay with people even when they hurt us, emotionally or physically. You come to a point where you start to believe it is your fault and you don't deserve anything better. He was so charismatic and I was enamored with him the first time I met him. He was so worldly and sophisticated. He seemed like the exact type of guy I was brought up to like and admire. But he was looking for someone to control, to go with the very controlled reality of his life. And he used me for that, like a puppeteer, directing me each way I went. If my mother was alive, she would tell you that I was never a girl to follow someone else. I always ended up going a different way from the herd. I hated when people told me what to do. But for James, I acquiesced, at least for a while, until I said no and then he reminded me who was in charge. But eventually, I saved myself. I worked up the courage to fight back. With the help of my family and best friend, I broke free from him. So now, at twenty-six, I start a new chapter.

I have lived an exceptional life. My grandfather, Aro Swan, is the owner of the Boston Red Sox. Yes, _the_ Boston Red Sox. I've spent my life in the heaven that is Fenway Park. Fenway Park epitomizes dreams that any Boston kid could think of. Baseball is such an art that not everyone appreciates. Some don't like it because it isn't as fast paced as football or basketball or that the games last too long and are too boring. But baseball is more than just a game. For a fan, it can bring people and communities together. The best place is sitting in the stadium, and experiencing a moment with thousands of others. And I can't help but brag, you don't get anywhere better than Fenway Park. Thinking about who's been on that field or walked those hallways, or spit in those dugouts can send chills up your spine for any knowledgeable fan. Fenway and the Sox for me is more than just baseball, its home. My mother Renee Swan, died from breast cancer when I was thirteen. It hurt, it still hurts. And for my dad Charlie, he turned to the only thing that remained constant in his life, the Red Sox. He stands to take over when my grandfather feels its time, which could be very soon. My dad didn't neglect me, but work turned to be everything and I tagged along. Growing up and around Fenway is something I will never regret or trade for a "normal" childhood.

I always knew I could end up working for the Red Sox in my future when I was starting college and deciding what I wanted to do. Part of me would have wanted nothing more, but you have to follow where your heart tells you. From the time I was very little I loved designing spaces. I would rearrange my room 20 times over until I got a certain feel and I would love helping my mother redecorate our apartments or the offices at the ballpark. I ended up attending NYU and now run my own interior design company with my best friend Alice Brandon. Being able to design someone's home is not a simple task and can be a trying process for some of the clientele that walk through my door. I take pride in my work and business and am extremely proud of what I have accomplished in my short career. Maybe it sounds cliché but with the new year about to begin I'm ready for a change and new direction. And of course, a brand new baseball season.


End file.
